Obama’s BRAIN initiative gets more than $300m

WASHINGTON (AFP): President Barack Obama’s initiative to study the brain and improve treatment of conditions like Alzheimer’s and autism was given a boost Tuesday with the announcement of more than $300 million in funds. When Obama first established the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) program last year, it had $100 million in initial money for research. The latest cash injection is coming from the National Institutes of Health, which announced $46 million in new grant awards for fiscal year 2015. Companies such as GE, Google, GlaxoSmithKline, and Inscopix are investing more than $30 million in research and development investments to support the BRAIN Initiative, a White House statement said. Foundations, patient advocacy organizations and universities, “are aligning over $240 million of their research efforts with the BRAIN Initiative,” it added.